Watching him the last couple of days in the media portion of practice, it looks like he’s a long shot to play against New England this Sunday.

On Thursday, his teammates were wearing shoulder pads and he wasn’t.

Also on Thursday, when the media half-hour of practice was ending, Powell headed to the rehab area to work with trainers (Jets head trainer John Mellody pictured above), not to where his teammates were practicing.

The San Diego Union-Tribune does a great job of reporting and analyzing NFL injuries. Here is what they reported on Powell’s injury suffered at the end of the first half in Cleveland:

“It appears Powell suffered a significant calf strain,” wrote Kevin Acee and Dr. David Chao. “He limped off flat-footed and did not contract his calf muscle or push off on the ball of his right foot. The problem is that calf injuries tend to linger, especially for explosive athletes. A running back needs a healthy calf to run on his toes and plant and cut.”

They added, “It could easily be several weeks before he returns, and it could be December before Powell puts this behind him.”

McCown: I just let him know that I’m thinking about him, that I loved him and to hang in there. I know he’s fighting a fight. I believe in him. You guys know how I feel about him. It’s a hard, mixed emotion day when you are playing against your brothers on the other side, and people like Hue that you respect. I just wanted him to know I enjoy competing against him and that I loved him.

Q)What are your thoughts on the Jets being 3-2?

McCown: That’s number one – it’s special to get to 3-2. It took me three years and two teams, but I got my first win here at FirstEnergy Stadium. The way we fought was good. It was not the prettiest at times, we started slow again offensively and I have to do my part to get that fixed. It was fun to get the win. To be sitting here at 3-2, we’re really proud of that. We have got to keep moving forward.

Q)How big was the 97-yard drive in the second half?

McCown: It was huge. The old saying, “be at your best when the best is needed.” We played well when we needed. We need to play well all day, but in that moment, we stepped up. Every guy made a play here and there. (TE) Eric Tomlinson makes a huge catch, (WR Jeremy) Kerley makes a huge catch on third down. Those things were big for us. That drive was huge. The drive before the half was what helped us get some momentum and get out of the funk we were in.

Q)What do you credit the 3-2 start?

McCown: I think it’s a credit to the guys in the locker room, the coaches, and really the organization as a whole. When we came together this spring, the mindset that we worked with, whether it was in the weight room, walk-throughs or OTA’s – every aspect, Coach Bowles talked about us being together and being one team.

It’s a unified group in there. There is power in that and we can do a lot when we are together. I think that’s the key. When you and the prognosticators make their picks and assumptions about any team, not just us, what you cannot always tell is the chemistry. We have really good chemistry and this is a special group.

Q)What is needed for the Jets to beat New England next week?

McCown: We will have to be at our best. They are an excellent football team. They have been great for a long time. We will go through our normal work-week, look at the tape on Monday, make our corrections and get ready to go. You cannot ask for anything else than to be 3-2 and to go against 3-2 New England in a head-to-head matchup. This is what it’s about. This is why you play the game. We look forward to playing them.

*These are excerpts from Josh McCown’s post-game press conference after the Jets’ win over Cleveland on Sunday.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins: It was just a great ball by (Jets QB) Josh (McCown). We worked during the week and we’ve really been working on our chemistry with that route. I was really happy that we were able to run it and execute it.

Q)What was Todd Bowles half-time message?

Seferian-Jenkins: Pick it up. We need to play to our level. We are playing down to another team’s level. We hold ourselves to a higher standard. I’m not sure we reached that standard today, but we did enough to win.

Q)How would you describe the team’s mindset?

Seferian-Jenkins: Everyone in this locker room doesn’t give up. We all work really hard . . . every single day we come into work. These guys take a lot of pride in their craft. We’re not going to come out here and just give up just because it’s tough. It just means you go hard, you don’t just stop.

*FANS OF WEEK 5 MATCH-UP TO RECEIVE SPECIAL HALL OF FAME ADMISSION DISCOUNT FOR WEARING TEAM GEAR

CANTON, OHIO – The Pro Football Hall of Fame is inviting New York Jets and Cleveland Browns fans to experience “The Most Inspiring Place on Earth!” The Browns host the Jets this Sunday (Oct. 8) at 1:00 p.m. at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is less than an hour drive from Cleveland.

Any Jets or Browns fan dressed in their team’s gear who mentions the promotion at the Hall’s Ticket Office will receive a $5 discount on any regular price museum admission. Jets fans may receive the discount today through Monday, Oct. 9. The promotion runs all season long for Browns fans ending Jan. 1, 2018. The Hall of Fame is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Information about planning a visit to the Hall of Fame can be found at: www.ProFootballHOF.com/visit/.

New York also has seven Hall of Famers who spent a minor portion of their careers with the Jets, including: BRETT FAVRE, RONNIE LOTT, ART MONK, BILL PARCELLS, JASON TAYLOR, LaDAINIAN TOMLINSON and RON WOLF.

WHAT TO SEE AT THE HALL

The Hall is home to an extraordinary cutting-edge, multi-sensory immersive theater, “A Game for Life,” featuring holographic representations of Hall of Fame legends JOE NAMATH, GEORGE HALAS, and VINCE LOMBARDI. The experience provides great inspiration to fans by showing them how the game of football also teaches lessons about life. The stories of numerous Hall of Famers, including JIM KELLY, STEVE LARGENT, ALAN PAGE, JIM BROWN, WARREN MOON and CURTIS MARTIN, are shared.

Guests visiting the Hall will enjoy seeing all 310 Bronzed Busts, including the new Class of 2017. They can also experience the Super Bowl Theater featuring the 2016 season capped by Super Bowl LI showcasing the New England Patriots’ exhilarating victory over the Atlanta Falcons. The Lombardi Trophy for Super Bowl LII is now on display in the Lamar Hunt Super Bowl Gallery for visitors to enjoy throughout the 2017 season.

Browns fans can see numerous artifacts on display from the franchise’s history, including: a jersey worn by Jim Brown in the 1960s adorned with the number 32; Paul Brown’s warmup jacket featuring the Brownie Elf logo; and the autographed 1955 NFL Championship game used ball.

Jets fans can see several artifacts from the franchise’s history on display throughout the Hall’s Museum, including: a Jets cap worn by Ewbank during the first Monday Night Football game when the Jets played the Browns on Sept. 21, 1970; the shoes worn by Class of 2017 enshrinee Tomlinson during the final game of his Hall of Fame career on Jan. 21, 2012; and a Super Bowl III game ball autographed by the Jets the year Namath “Guaranteed” a Super Bowl victory.

With Lucky Whitehead out with a broken foot, this player is a leading candidate for the Jets kick/punt return jobs.

His name is Frankie Hammond.

Who is Frankie Hammond?

Well people in Hallandale, Florida certainly know who he is.

He was a star at Hallandale High School. University of Florida fans might remember him for his 75-yard TD pass against Tennessee in 2012. But his career for the Gators was kind of nondescript. The quarterback situation during his time there didn’t help. Not only did it hurt the receivers there, but it ended up getting coach Will Muschamp fired.

He signed as an undrafted free agent with Kansas City in 2013, and spent the next four seasons bouncing between their practice squad and regular roster. The fact that Andy Reid kept him around that long, tells you something about him. The emergence of Tyreek Hill last year forced Hammond to spend last season on the Chiefs’ practice squad. Hill was the best returner in football last year. They certainly didn’t need Hammond.

After last season, when Hammond’s time on the Chiefs’ practice squad ended, the Jets jumped on him, and signed him to a future’s contract.

And now he’s one of the leading candidates to be the Jets kick/punt returner. He had 29 punt returns for the Chiefs in 2014-15.

He’s got 4.4 speed, and keep in mind, he was also a high jumper on the University of Florida track team, which is a sign of athletic explosiveness. And he got some great training the last four years from Chiefs special team’s coach Dave Toub, considered by many to be the best in the business.

2017 is certainly a year of opportunity in Jetsville. Hammond needs to take advantage of that, grab this kick/punt returner job, and run with it.

*****To subscribe to Jets Confidential Magazine, click below, or call 1-800-932-4557 (M-F, 9-5) to subscribe. The new issue of JC, with tons of inside info from Jets camp, comes out later this week, You won’t want to miss it.

Beth Mowins to Become First Woman to Ever Call NFL Play-by-Play for CBS; James Lofton and Jay Feely Added as Game Analysts

With the deepest NFL announcer lineup in sports television, THE NFL ON CBS debuts five new broadcast crews this season led by the CBS Television Network’s new lead announce team of Jim Nantz, Tony Romo and Tracy Wolfson. CBS Sports is set to once again produce and distribute more NFL games than any other network this season with NFL ON CBS Sunday afternoon games and THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. Nantz, Romo and Wolfson also will call THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL games on CBS and NFL Network, in addition to the marquee games on Sunday. Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports, and Executive Producer, THE NFL ON CBS, announced today the complete list of THE NFL ON CBS broadcast pairings.

CBS Sports has added play-by-play announcer Beth Mowins to the 2017 NFL lineup. Mowins will become the first woman to ever call play-by-play for the Network’s NFL games when she teams with new game analyst Jay Feely to call Cleveland-Indianapolis on Sept. 24. Pro Football Hall of Famer James Lofton also joins as new game analyst alongside Andrew Catalon. Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts and Evan Washburn continue to serve as CBS Sports’ No. 2 team and call the Network’s top game on Sundays when Nantz, Romo and Wolfson do not call a game.

The following are the Network’s NFL announcer pairings for the 2017 season (play-by-play/analyst//reporter):

In addition to Wolfson and Washburn, game coverage includes sideline reporter Jamie Erdahl with Gumbel-Green, as well as regional sideline reporters for selected games throughout the season.

This season marks THE NFL TODAY’s 50th year. Phil Simms and Nate Burleson join the show as new analysts alongside host James Brown and analysts Boomer Esiason and Bill Cowher from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. Jason La Canfora continues to serve as the “NFL Insider.”

Jim Rikhoff is the new lead game producer for THE NFL ON CBS, and Michael Arnold is the lead game director. Drew Kaliski is producer for THE NFL TODAY, while Bob Matina directs.

ESPN’s Steven A. Smith feels that the Jets are the most egregious example of the blacklisting.

Smith told SiriusXM’s Karen Hunter that free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick is being blacklisted by NFL teams, and the Jets are the most egregious example.

“Where the most egregious example lies, Karen, is with the New York Jets,” Smith told Hunter. “You have a team that has a 38-year-old in Josh McCown who is a journeyman, a second or third year player who is a Christian Hackenberg, who’s a puppy in the NFL, and some dude named Bryce Petty. None of whom have really played other than Josh McCown who is a journeyman, like I said. Colin Kaepernick, you can make an argument, he’s better than all three of them combined. But, they haven’t called Colin Kaepernick. They’re not considering him and remember who their owner is, it’s Woody Johnson, who’s an ambassador to the UK for the Trump administration. So, that’s the most egregious example.”

Q)What did you think of Sheldon Richardson’s comments about Brandon Marshall?

Todd Bowles: My thoughts on it are they know how I feel. We’ve addressed it. I really don’t have time for a bunch of BS that happened a year ago. We had sixth months to talk about it. All that (stuff) is over. He’s been well informed of that, and we’ve moved on from that.

Q)Have you talked to Richardson since yesterday?

Bowles: We’ve moved on from there. Believe me. We’ve had team discussions, individual discussions and we’ve moved on.

Q)Do you mean Richardson has been informed?

Bowles: Everybody’s been informed. He’s been informed. Everyone’s been informed.

Q)Has everyone been informed since yesterday?

Bowles: That’s when it happened. I don’t have time for the BS. We’ve moved forward. It’s not my discussion to have.

Florham Park – It was announced today by NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo that Jets WR Quincy Enunwa is out for the season with a neck injury.

While the Jets lost a good receiver, they didn’t really lose their #1 receiving target as many have stated.

The #1 target in the Jets’ passing game, in the spring and summer, has been tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins. He has been dominant in practice.

In fact, today’s Jets practice ended with Seferian-Jenkins making a sensational touchdown catch in the end zone with linebacker Demario Davis in tight coverage.

A tight end can be the #1 target in a passing game.

That was certainly the case with the San Diego Chargers when Antonio Gates was in his prime. Also, when Jimmy Graham was in New Orleans, this was the case for a couple of seasons.

As for the Jets’ wide receiver position, a number of guys have looked very good this summer, but I will get into that at another time. Don’t always get caught up in big names. This isn’t fantasy football.

But overall, the Jets’ passing attack is going to center around Seferian-Jenkins (who will miss the first two games due to an NFL suspension).

*****To subscribe to the monthly Jets Confidential Magazine, a must-read for Jets fans, with so much stuff you won’t ready anywhere else, click below, or call 1-800-932-4557 (M-F, 9-5) to subscribe.

Q)What do you think of the reaction to your comment about dying on the field?

Jamal Adams: Honestly, I really did not see it getting that far. Again, I was speaking about being passionate about the game that I love. I understand that some families were affected by (CTE), and I definitely did not mean it any type of way.

Q)What made you feel as if you should further address it?

Adams: When you see something that’s blowing up, that’s on First Take and ESPN, I think it should be addressed. My words were simply that I’m very passionate about what I do. I said at the beginning while you guys were there that I’m all about making the game safer. I understand the CTE symptoms and what not and what families are affected, but it’s simply about passion.

Q)Did Coach Bowles said anything to you about it?

Adams: Yes, he did.

Q)What did Coach Bowles say?

Adams: Basically, he just said that you have to clear it up. He understood what I said, and it’s all about passion, but I can see where it affected some families and some people. But again, it’s all about passion and love for the game.

Q)How would you describe your love for the game of football?

Adams: (It is) indescribable. I love this game so much. I come on this field, this is my job now. I’m very passionate. I go to war with my brothers every day. It’s sacrifice, it’s a long sacrifice. A lot of people don’t understand what we go through – ins and outs – so when we’re on this field, this is my playground. This is where I’m most at peace and this is what I love to do.

Q)Would you make the same comments if you had a chance to do it all over again?

Adams: My comments were simply for passion – nothing else – not one time did I say anything about CTE, say anything negative (about it). I respect it. I understand what is the outcome of it, and I know there are families that are affected, but, at the same time, everything is about passion (with) what I said.